Camino Portugués: Final Stage - Tui to Santiago

Quick Facts

Highlights

Experiencing a sense of timelessness and freedom amongst the ever changing landscape

Discovering the real Galicia as you walk through this stunning region of Spain

Monte Santiaguino where St James first preached in Iberia

Completing a unique and rewarding journey and gaining your Compostela in Santiago

This section covers the last 100km of the route which is the minimum required to get your Compostela certificate in Santiago. It takes you through the friendly region of Galicia in Northern Spain until you reach your final destination, Santiago de Compostela. Following quiet country roads and woodland paths you go through wooded valleys, follow gentle rivers and walk by the coast. Galicia welcomes you with its relaxed pace of life and draws you gradually towards your destination, the glorious Santiago de Compostela.

The Camino Portugués in general is quite flat and easy to navigate and with the route being a road less travelled, you will find it a lot quieter than the Camino Frances, but no less inspiring.

Day 1: Arrive Tui

Separated from Portugal by the River Minho, the Galician town of Tui is a pretty, historical border town. Explore it’s attractive cathedral cloister, or take a wander over the International Bridge to Valenca do Minho, in Portugal.

Overnight: Tui

Day 2: Tui to O Porrino

Follow quiet country roads and woodland paths along the rio Louro valley to O Porrino. You will be collected from here to be transferred back to Tui for your overnight accommodation due to a lack of good standard accommodation in O Porrino.

Walk: 15km, 4 hours

Overnight: Tui

Day 3: O Porrino to Arcade

A short transfer will take you back to O Porrino, to continue your walk. A short, steep climb up the Road of the Knights is rewarded with views of the sea, before heading downhill to Redondela. Continue along the coast, then a brief climb up through wooded forest, before reaching the coast again at Arcade.

Walk: 23 km, 5-6 hours.

Overnight: Arcade

Day 4: Arcade to Pontevedra

Begin the day by climbing the ancient stone paths of the Verea Vella da Canicouva. Explore the 13th century Church of Santa Maria with it’s wonderful views over the Bay of Vigo before arriving in Pontevedra.

Walk: 12km, 3-4 hours

Overnight: Pontevedra

Day 5: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

Gentle paths take you through eucalyptus woods and along river valleys shared with the railway line today. Caldas de Reis is a spa town, its history linked to its thermal waters. Enjoy resting your feet in the hot spring on arrival.

Walk: 21km, 5 hours

Overnight: Caldas de Reis

Day 6: Caldas de Reis to Padron

A lovely day of walking through two river valleys, the Bermana and the Valga valley. Padron is the starting point of James ministry in Spain, and where St James remains were brought to following his martyrdom in Jerusalem.

Walk: 17km, 4-5 Hours.

Overnight: Padron

Day 7: Padron to Santiago de Compostela

The route gets busier today as you head towards Santiago, but there are still pleasant sections through oak, pine and eucalyptus woodlands. You will soon spot the spires of the magnificent cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, and relish that moment of walking into Santiago and completing your journey.

Walk: 22km, 5-6 Hours.

Overnight: Santiago de Compostela

Day 7: Onward Travel

Arrange extra nights in Santiago or enjoy breakfast then make your way to Santiago Airport.

Accommodation

The accommodation is a mixture of small family run hotels, guesthouses and larger hotels in the big cities. All with private rooms and en-suite bathrooms and all offer a warm welcome to walkers, traditional hospitality and delicious local food. We do recommend that you book this trip early as the area is always popular and the hotels and inns do fill up early.

Solo Walkers & Single Rooms

The Camino is available to solo walkers at a supplement. Single rooms are available although a single supplement is payable.

Availability

This trip is available to start on any day from the beginning of March to the end of October. Option & extension prices will be displayed as part of the booking process.

Meals

A local breakfast is included each morning which usually consists of a coffee and bread with jams. Lunch and dinner are not included as standard so you are free to choose from the available options.

Time of Year

The Camino Portugués is best enjoyed from March to October but you can walk at any time of year. You can start on any date that suits your travel plans and you will find up to date availability on our website.

Solo Walkers & Single Rooms

The Camino is available to solo walkers at a single supplement.

Grade & Terrain

This walk is graded moderate and includes daily walks of 12-23km. The walk is extremely well way-marked and you will also be supplied with turn by turn route notes and detailed maps so you will have no problem following the route each day.

Navigation, Route Notes & Maps

The route is marked with yellow painted arrows but please take care at intersections. There will always be other walkers around in case you are looking for help. A detailed information pack including route notes, local information and maps will be waiting for you at your first accommodation.

Baggage Transfer

Baggage transfers are included (max 20kg per person). Your main bag
will be transferred each day between your overnight accommodation so
that you only need to walk with a day pack. There is a supplement
applicable for solo walkers on baggage transfers due to the fact that
the transfer costs are usually shared.

Additional Nights

There is so much to see and do along the route that many of our clients choose to add extra nights along the walk either as a rest day or simply to do some extra sightseeing. If you are walking the whole route solo try not to add too many extra nights along the way as you will lose touch with those you have met.

Fewer Nights

It is possible to walk the Camino in less time but we would not recommend this.

Travel Insurance

It is a requirement of booking this tour with Macs Adventure that you have suitable Travel Insurance which covers you for the activity, emergency evacuation and hospital care.

General Information

Please be prepared by packing all necessary items, for example, proper rain gear (jacket and pants), sun hat and sun screen. Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard walking/cycling gear such as good walking boots or shoes, warm and waterproof clothes for the cooler months and lightweight clothing for summer, and a day pack.

For this section you are best to fly in and out of Santiago de Compostela. You can fly directly to Santiago from London Stansted with Ryanair

which connects through Vigo. The total journey time for this is around 2.5 hours.

Included

Accommodation in small rural hotels, twin/double rooms with en-suite W/C.

Daily Baggage Transfers

A detailed information pack for the group leader including route notes, maps and local information.

Return transfers from O Porrino to Tui.

Excluded

Return travel to Spain/Portugal.

Lunches, snacks or drinks.

Travel Insurance.

Personal Equipment.

Taxi transfers or public transport should you need to skip a stage.

Extras

Additional nights accommodation along the way.

Single supplements.

Options

Type

Name

Price From

Tour extra (general)

No Baggage Transfers Required

US$-85

Tour extra (general)

Half Board Supplement (Tui to Santiago)

US$190

Accommodation

Extra Night in Santiago - Recommended (BB)

US$70

Accommodation

Solo Walker, Single Supplement (Tui to Santiago)

US$280

Accommodation

Single room supplement (Tui-Santiago)

US$280

Transport

Santiago Airport to Tui (or vice-versa) Transfer

US$215

Commiting to the Portugués Camino is a big commitment and you will undoubtably have a huge number of questions and queries. I hope the answers below will go some way to answering your queries.

How fit do I need to be?

The average daily distance of this stage of the Portugués Camino is between 18 kilometers and you can expect to walk for between four and five hours each day. You should do as much walking as possible prior to your walk as this will simply add to your enjoyment. That said if you are not at peak fitness you will find you will soon walk yourself fit.

Clothing & Equipment

Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard walking gear such as good walking boots or shoes, lightweight clothes, waterproofs and a day pack.

What equipment do I need?

Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard walking gear such as good walking boots or shoes, lightweight clothes, waterproofs and a day pack.

What happens if I can’t walk a stage?

Public transport and taxis are available, if you are need of support our local partner in Spain will be more than happy to help.

What type of trails does the Portugués Camino follow?

The path follows quiet country roads and woodland paths, you go through wooded valleys, follow gentle rivers and walk by the coast. Wooden posts with a yellow shell symbol show the way and yellow arrows painted on many walls, wooden posts and tracks are there to follow. There will always be other walkers around incase you are looking for help.

How far in advance do I need to book?

We suggest you book as far in advance as possible as the Portugués Camino is extremely popular. Numbers can rise by up to 100, 000 people. We will always try and accommodate late bookings but realistically you need to book at least 6 weeks prior to departure.

How do the baggage transfers work?

Baggage transfers are included. Your bags will be transferred from
your accommodation as per your itinerary and moved onto your next
overnight accommodation. The maximum weight for a piece of luggage is
20kgs.

Can I walk with my bags?

Yes, some people prefer to walk carrying their own bags as a true
pilgrim would have. You can select the option for removing the baggage
transfers in Step 2 of the Booking Engine.

When is the best time of year?

I would recommend April/May when the spring flowers are at there best and September/October when the colours are just lovely. June, July and August can be very hot if you are not used to walking in the heat while the temperatures can fall sharply in the winter with some accommodation closing down for the end of season.

What happens if I can’t walk a stage?

Public transport and taxis are available, if you are need of support our local partner in Portugal will be more that happy to help.

Can I change my itinerary once I start walking?

Unfortunately we are unable to change your accommodation bookings and itinerary once you start walking as alternative accommodation is generally not available at such short notice.

We walked from Santarem to San Pedro du Rubiaes. This is the 4th trip we have done with Macs and once again a fantastically organized trip. In fact, from the time I started to make enquiries to our departure, the service was professional and efficient. On the trip everything was well organized, we never had to contact the country representative as we did not have one issue. Can't find fault with any of the accommodation and was pleasantly surprised with the selection for breakfast. Our trip was tailor made due to the days we had available, therefore, we combined a number of days. This meant we had 7 of the 14 days that were in excess of 30kms. Yes, these days were tough on the feet and the extreme heat we experienced didn't help, but then we got to our accommodation which was always well located in town and clean, our luggage was also always there. In the big towns if we were a bit confused with the location of the hotel the tourist offices were always able to assist.

The trip was designed and planned to meet our specific personal requirements and the administration from enquiring to booking to starting out on the Camino was excellent.

The only thing that let the trip down was some of the poor quality accommodation in that there was a huge inconsistency in the quality of the hotels. The first three hotels were excellent but the following two were very poor, and very noisy and didn't compare to the previous nights. After a long walk the last thing we needed was disappointingly scruffy and noisy hotels particularly as alternative accommodation was available in both towns.

Apart from this everything else was very good and certainly an achievement and something we will all look back on with lots of very happy memories.

This was a very well organised trip from start to finish and made enjoying the walk much easier.The accommodations were all good and everyone was very friendly and welcoming. I was sad to leave, would repeat the holiday tomorrow if I could.

This was a terrific trip during Holy Week with my teenage son. There were more hills than I was expecting :) so it was a little harder than I anticipated--just enough to give us a nice sense of accomplishment. Our Macs representative, Dan Greenwood, was terrific--answering every question promptly, making additions and changes promptly, making sure we had all information. Hotels in Tui and Pontevedra were exceptional. Five stars!

My family and I did the Camino de Santiago from Tui in August 2015, and would like to congratulate MacsAdventure team for organizing this amazing experience. We especially commend the Hotel A Torre do Xudeu in Tui, a charming family run hotel. Excellent hospitality, Ana (owner) very attentive at all time. Will definitely return.

We would have been better to walk in spring or autumn; it was really hot.The route we chose from Tui to Santiago involved walking in and out of cities on Tarmac in the heat...it was better from Santiago to Finisterre, mostly from village to village and more in the countryside.The accommodation was mostly brilliant.Everyone was very friendly and put themselves out for us.Can't wait to go back for more.Finisterre and Santiago were fantastic

Macs staff provided excellent advice and service in putting together hotel accommodations for our walk on the Portugese Route of the Camino de Santiago. They accommodated our wanting to walk a day in Portugal and adjusted other days to meet our wishes for how many miles we wanted to walk each day. The hotels were all pleasant and comfortable with excellent breakfasts, well located for the most part. The maps provided by TEE travel were sometimes lacking and without assistance from locals would not have found them, but that was part of the experience of the hospitality of the Camino. Macs guidance on being prepared is to be heeded. Makes the Camino wonderful and the Pilgrim Mass in Santiago is more than I had ever imagined.

Mac Adventures is very responsive, provided lots of material and good instructions regarding the walking trails(in addition to the normal Camino markers). The local maps provided by Tee Travel were confusing especially in finding the hotels( same comments made by other non-American travelers we met on the way). The "stars" rating of the hotels weren't accurate. Suggest that the hotels are visited by the Travel agent before using them. Change the rest stop to a different town if no appropriate accommodations are available. e.g. Porrino

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Itinerary

DAY 1: Arrive Tui and overnight
DAY 2: Walk to O Porrino (transfer back to Tui) - 15km
DAY 3: Transfer to O Porrino and walk to Arcade - 23km
DAY 4: Walk to Pontevedra - 12km
DAY 5: Walk to Caldas de Reis - 21km
DAY 6: Walk to Padron - 17km
DAY 7: Walk to Santiago de Compostela - 22km
DAY 8: Onward Travel

Is this tour for me?

The Camino Portugués is a fantastic alternative to the more popular Camino Frances. The walking is much easier, the route a lot quieter and you can collect a whole new Pilgrims Passport full of stamps.

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